vicar English · revision 827

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvɪkɚ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|vicar]], earlier ''viicare'',^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|xno|vikere]], Old French ''vicaire'' “deputy”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|la|vicārius|t=a substitute, deputy]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) a noun use of the adjective ''vicārius'' “substituted” (see [[vicarious]]),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from ''vicis'' “change, turn, place”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An earthly representative of God or Christ (before 1300);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Cresswell 2021) applied specifically to the Pope from 1340.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The vicar was originally one who stood in for another.^(Cresswell 2021) By about 1325 the word meant a priest acting in a parish in place of the parson or rector,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and then the priest of a parish whose tithes went to a monastery or other body, which paid him a stipend as its representative, as opposed to a rector, who kept the tithes.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) It is also used of a cleric acting for a bishop and, in the Episcopal Church, one in charge of a chapel or mission.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The proverbial ''Vicar of Bray'' (1660s), one who changes his principles to suit the times, is said to be a 16th-century vicar of Bray in Berkshire who held the post from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, twice a Catholic and twice a Protestant.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – a representative of God or Christ.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1325 – a priest acting in place of the parson.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1340 – the Pope as Vicar of Christ.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1425 – ''vicarage''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1661 – ''Vicar of Bray''.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In the [[Church of England]], the priest of a [[parish]] who receives a stipend or salary but not the [[tithe|alt=tithes]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In the Episcopal Church, a cleric in charge of a chapel or mission.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # In the Roman Catholic and some other churches, a cleric acting as the representative of a higher-ranking one, such as a bishop.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # One who acts as a substitute or agent for another.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vicarship]]

+ * [[subvicar]]

+ * [[undervicar]]

+ * [[vicarage]]

+ * [[vicarial]]

+ * [[vicarly]]

+ * [[vicar-general]]

+ * [[lay vicar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vicarate]]

+ * [[vicariate]]

+ * [[vicarious]]

+ * [[vice]]

+ * [[vicissitude]]

+ * [[weak]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}